A special storage warehouse was built in Ravenswood, West Virginia not far from Parkersburg; this facility was used to store the microfilm records of savings bonds that had been kept in an older building in Wisconsin. 63 The new savings bond operations center in Parkersburg was to be a 285,000 square foot six-floor building of modern design overlooking the Ohio River. It would utilize an advanced heating system that operated from the warmth generated by the sun, lighting and machinery and the occupants of the building. A back-up boiler system was included in the structure and sensors would put it into operation whenever the intensity of the sun became too low. The plans also permitted the movement of the interior walls, so individual departments could expand or contract their floor-space as needs arose. 64 The move from Chicago was a very large undertaking, affecting a large number of employees. To some extent, the problem of moving a long distance that was faced by long-time employees was alleviated by a staff reduction through attrition. Remaining employees in Chicago were given the opportunity to transfer to Parkersburg; those who chose not to move were given assistance in finding jobs with other Federal agencies in the Chicago area. Job fairs were held and employment officers of several agencies were contacted on behalf of employees. 65 Overall responsibility for coordinating the move was placed in the hands of Mr. Michael E. McGeoghegan, Assistant Commissioner in charge of the Chicago Office, and later head of the consolidated operation in Parkersburg. Mr. McGeoghegan expressed his concern over the problem faced by employees in the Chicago Office in a letter to government officials in the Chicago region. After describing the details of the transfer, he noted, "The effect of the transfer of functions is of great concern to the Department of the Treasury, to the Bureau of the Public Debt, and to me personally. It is unfortunate that many of our fine employees are unable to relocate and are forced to seek other employment." 66 Enclosed with the letter was a booklet containing qualification briefs of all employees of the Chicago Office who were seeking employment with other Federal agencies in the Chicago area. 63 Secretary, Annual Report, 1974, 131. 64 Public Debt News, October 1982, 1-3. 65 Bureau of the Public Debt, Schedule for Assisting Displaced Employees Find Jobs, (Chicago Office Memo, November 11, 1974) located in Parkersburg office files. Michael McGeoghegan, Letter, November 20, 1974. 66 The important task of arranging for the smooth transfer of Chicago personnel to Parkersburg, or to other jobs in the government was given to Mary K. Rose. Her records show that a total of 148 employees elected to move to Parkersburg, 176 took jobs at other agencies, 224 retired from government service and 68 discontinued service. 67 In recognition of her effective performance of this difficult task, Mrs. Rose was awarded a Meritorious Service Award at the Department of the Treasury's 1976 Annual Awards Ceremony. In presenting the award, George H. Dixon, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, cited Mrs. Rose for "her major contributions to the consolidation of two field offices of the Bureau of the Public Debt, which exemplify a career marked by dedication, loyalty and integrity." " 68 As part of the consolidation plan, with a new building being built in Parkersburg, it was decided to upgrade the computer operations there. Plans were made for replacing the old computer system, assuring greater use of third-generation software and equipment and creating a communications network among Washington, Parkersburg and the Federal Reserve Banks. 69 The new building (see Figure 22) also allowed for operations that had been scattered in several old buildings in the downtown area of Parkersburg to be brought together under one facility. At the same time, the computer that had been used in Chicago was added to the Parkersburg operation. The new building in Parkersburg was opened at a dedication ceremony on February 10, 1975. The office was officially designated as the Savings Bond Operations Office. 70 As can be seen from Table Fifteen, the number of employees in Parkersburg represented a decline of about 100 persons from the combined total that had previously worked in Parkersburg and Chicago. The new office in Parkersburg began smooth operations almost immediately, with several employees getting awards from the Secretary of the Treasury in 1976. In addition to Mary K. Rose, as noted above, Marianne P. Heckman, Management Analysis Officer, was given a Meritorious Service Award in honor of her "consistently outstanding contributions which markedly increased productivity and reduced costs;" She was the first woman at the Bureau to be given this award. Other awards went to Charles I. Gardner, 67 68 Mary K. Rose, Memo, (Parkersburg, WV: February 21, 1975), 3-4. 69 Secretary, Annual Report, 1974, 131. 70 Secretary, Annual Report, 1975, 176. Director of the Division of Transactions, Richard F. Merz, Deputy Director of that Division and Wilburn French, Manager, Records Storage Branch, Division of Management Services. 71 As happened in many government agencies, the Bureau of the Public Debt itself was affected by the social changes that were taking place during the 1960s and 1970s. As can be seen from Table Twelve, the Bureau had a high proportion of women among its employees. By 1975, the Bureau had a Federal Women's Program Coordinator, Terry Tucker, who was making plans for the observance of the International Women's Year. Commissioner Hintgen was on record as a strong supporter of an affirmative action approach to the employment of women, their promotion to higher levels of responsibility and their participation in career development training. 72 As part of this commitment to equal employment opportunity, at the Parkersburg Field Office, Kathy Moran was appointed as both Federal Women's Program Coordinator and Spanish-Speaking Program Coordinator on May 1, 1977. 73 71 Newsletter, Field Office, March 1977, 1. 72 Public Debt News, Spring Issue, 1975, 7. 73 Field Notes, 1978, Issue 2, 3. Operational Improvement Even though it was coming under increasingly heavy pressure due to social changes, as well as from continual increases in its workload, the Bureau continued making those small changes that added up to further improvement in its operations. Notable among the changes instituted were those made in the areas of Computers, Book-Entry, Service, Employee Suggestions, Organization and Savings Bonds. The following discussion highlights each of these areas. Computers: In 1976, A Univac 1110 computer system was put into operation in the Parkersburg Office. This new system replaced a burgeoning older system that used five computers and three different computer languages. The new system also included a communications link with the Washington Office, which allowed for the Washington Office to begin phasing out its use of the computer system previously installed in the Office of the Secretary. 74 The new system was a great advance over the previous one. It established COBOL as the standard language for the Bureau, reduced the number of savings bond computer programs from 660 to 394, cut down the number of reels of tape for the savings bond master files from 2,840 to 369 and improved computer planning throughout the Bureau. Leo Zajac, Director of the Division of ADP Management, was given an award for his leadership in implementing the new system by the Interagency Committee on ADP. 75 Book-Entry: Even with the use of book-entry recording of certain securities, the accounting procedures associated with new marketable issues remained complex. For definitive securities, accountability started when printed issues were delivered from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to the Division of Securities Operations, which then reported the receipt of the securities for examination and storage to the Principal Accounts Branch. When a security was paid for, a definitive security would be sent to the purchaser by the Federal Reserve Banks from their stock. In a book-entry transaction, upon payment for the security, the Federal Reserve Bank included a |